meaganola

I was wondering if the cherry thing was just me, and I'm happy to see it's not! I think I've tried every incarnation of Smut except the first one, and this one is quite possibly my favorite. It's less boozy than last year's version, which had been my favorite before this one. I can even wear this one to work and not feel like a bar mat!

There's something about this that makes me think of my grandmother. Not because she wore perfume at all (if there's anything that triggers a scent-memory of her for me, it would be Noxema) or ever had flowers around the house, but probably because she always took peonies to the graves of our various relatives on Memorial Day. Although I never went with her, just *knowing* that there are peonies make me associate this with her. And then there's the part where I wear a lot of pink. I even have a pair of hot pink patent leather combat boots. So it's like one part my grandmother because of the peonies and one part me because of the pink! As for the scent itself, it's a bright, happy, pink-candy-floral scent that will be a very welcome addition to my springtime seasonal collection. There's an unexpected tea-like note in the background, but I love tea, and it works in here, so it's just an added bonus, although it makes me desperately crave iced tea.

The fruit is wonderful in the wet stage, but once it dries down, I can barely smell *anything*. There's a teensy bit of soft florals, but that's about it. I think most of the notes here just hit an olfactory blind spot for me because I can tell there's *something* there, but I simply don't really detect it. Plus it's very soft, delicate, and pretty, which are more or less exactly the sorts of adjectives used for scents that are very much not me (and probably related to the can't-really-smell-this issue). Not a keeper for me, but I can see where this one will very much be in demand once decants are tested.

Bradford pear, honey, and vanilla cream. Wet, it's the same to me as to everyone else: Bright, juicy pear. But when it's dry, I get a very creamy scent -- with a very, *very* faint tinge of chocolate. I have no idea where the chocolate thing is coming from, but it's very pretty and delicate. Unfortunately, I'm not a pretty-and-delicate sort of person, so this partial decant will be enough for me, and it will go in the "only when I get a very specific craving" section of my collection. ETA: The honey. I forgot to address that. Normally, BPAL honey goes horribly wrong on me in ways I can't even describe but usually involve The Quease, but this one works and doesn't make me want to barf. Too bad it's in an oh-so-very-not-me sort of blend.

It might be a better idea to ask this in the Chatter section under the BPAL FAQ page or in the Speculation thread, but, in short, the three main Walletgeddon LE collections are Weenies, Yules, and Lupercalias, aka Lupes (Lupercalia is the precursor to Valentine's Day). There are also smaller LE collections we can usually depend on being released, like Bards of Ireland in March (we didn't get those this year, but we got the earthquake fundraiser collection instead), April Fool's Day in April, and Anniversaries in November. Then there's *also* the 13 series (I think there was one 13 blend that appeared on two different occasions, but they are typically mildly different) commemorating Friday the 13ths whenever they happen (note: They are only up for 24 hours, so don't wait for reviews if you think you want them!). And then we have the annual Lunar New Year oil. And then there are random surprise small LE collections like the RAINN fundraiser or Paduan Killer Bees, and then there are single surprise LEs like Lo Krathong or Stinky, not to mention Dark Delicacies exclusives that are basically DD-only LEs like Black Lace or Batty and other retail-only exclusives like Pretty Indulgent's various oils, plus Will Call exclusives like Blood Champagne, and WC exclusive giveaways like Hot Buttered Rum, and non-WC event exclusives like Giant Squid for Sakuracon last year (and then there are event exclusives that are given away for free at certain events, like Dungeon Crawl for, um, the Geek Girl Tweetup, if I recall correctly, which I probably don't). Oh, and I almost forgot the forum LEs: We have been getting Lilith scents every September for her birthday, and then there will be just random forum-only LEs popping up unexpectedly like Halloween: Las Vegas and WILF. Oh, and I also almost forget the Post's LEs like Candied Pumpkin or the Echo & Narkissos set. In short, although there are certain times when you can expect certain things (Lupes, 13s, Aril Fool's Day), there are always surprises. If you want to try them all and don't care whether you have a bottle, decant circles are your best friend. By my count, there were over 160 LEs between January and October alone, and that was *before* the Yules and Anniversaries. Edited to brak up the wall o' text.

Penitence. Frankincense and myrrh! It smells like these candles my mom used to burn exclusively around Christmastime in the '70s.

Ah, one of the most frustrating things about BPAL. It's possible they're *both* right, even if they don't smell or look the same. BPAL is almost entirely dependent on natural components, and, just like, say, a bowl of strawberries picked off the same plant, there are color and scent variations all over the place. You might find a better answer in Different smells/colors, same perfume.

The basic rule of thumb: If it's on the left side of the Lab's site between (and including) Alchemists Local '93 and Wanderlust, it's impable. Everything else is not, although you can order pre-made complete sets (no breaking them up, no swapping them for something else when you order) of Panacea, Salon, and Last Unicorn imps, so, as a side note, decant circles of those three categories are not allowed on the forum.

Strangely, I don't cut the ones that burn my skin (typically, the ones with cassia and/or cinnamon), but I do cut TKO because the scent is *potent*, and I always forget just how strong it is when I slather it on my wrist. I tend to sleep with my wrist next to my face, so if it's too strong, it can actually keep me awake, which pretty much defeats the purpose of wearing it. I use jojoba oil, and I mix it in a half-and-half-ish ratio in a rollerball. This was the first oil that I put in a rollerball because I was concerned I would dump an entire bottle all over my bed if I tried applying directly from a bottle, but it turns out that rollerballs are the best way for me to apply oil. Only my very favorites go into a rollerball, though. The ones I use will hold about half a bottle of oil, and that will last me at least a year. I don't go through oil quickly, to put it mildly (I still have half a bottle of my very favorite Halloweenie: Dia de los Muertos 2005, which I got a little over three years ago in a Lab auction). If I only have a decant/imp or bottle of something, unless it's a decant I made for going-out-this-one-particular-evening purposes, I go the straw-style coffee/cocktail stirrer route (unless it turns out to be a new favorite GC, in which case I sometimes start a new rollerball and add imps to it as I collect them). I picked up a box of them at Cash & Carry a couple of years ago, and I don't think I've gone through even half of the box.

I could have sworn I saw a review thread for Benevolent Triple Conjunction, and now I can't find it. I did separate searches for "Benevolent" and "Conjunction" in the TAL review section, the LE section, and the overall review section, and it is steadfastly refusing to come up. Help, please? SO WEIRD. I just did a forum-wide search (that is, not restricted to reviews) and found it tucked away in the TAL section. But when I searched in the review section as well as specifically the TAL section, I got nothing.

It requires a bit of forethought, but would electric/Pluming tape around the lid and neck of a new bottle help prevent this? I have a couple LE bottles that are a few years old and living in a dry climate, I'd like to prevent this as much as possible. I don't think it's an evaporation issue. I think it's just part of the chemical change that comes with aging. I notice it more with the scents that change a lot as they age, like Snake Oil and Vixen (and, wow, I need to get a bottle of this stuff to sock away for next summer, but that's a topic for a different thread). My theory is that the molecules themselves are shrinking, which makes the scent deeper and richer.

One thing I noticed about this query that no one has touched on: These oils are four years old. I've had levels in quite a few bottles go down as they age -- after just a year or two -- even when they have been sitting unopened in a box. It's possible that these bottles were full when the seller bought them and have never been opened yet are noticeably less full now.

As Silvertree explained a few posts ago, CCNow's shipped status is not really a shipped status. All it means is that your order has been harvested and is getting picked/prepped for shipping. I'm not sure how many days typically elapse between order harvesting and shipping since it has been something like three years since I've paid via CCNow, but you will know your order has truly shipped when you get the Click'n'Ship notice from the USPS with a tracking number. It's pretty much a two-stage process: When CCNow says an order has shipped, it basically means that the Lab has generated a pick ticket for your order. Until that tracking number email from the USPS exists, your order has not actually shipped. [i've had a weird afternoon and am deleting my restaurant analogy here. There were sous chefs involved.]

There's a whole thread for this over in the BPAL FAQ section right here.

I just took a wander through my spreadsheet sorted by date, and my best guesses are: Hunter Moon 2004 -- A blend of traditional lunar oils touched with dry leaves, autumn bonfires, warm mulled wine, feral, animalistic notes and the chill of approaching winter. The Castle -- A distant whisper of pine, wet moss and dry leaves passing through vast halls and winding dungeons whose scent bears the memory of blood, faded splendor, imperial elegance and stunning violence. Unfortunately, they're both LEs, as is my all-time favorite decaying leaves scent: Falling Leaf Moon. It's bottled Portland Autumn: Rain, wet decaying leaves (for some reason, I can't stand *dry* decaying leaves), and patchouli. If you can find some, snag it immediately. ChipNoir, if you want non-pumpkiny Halloween scents, just wait until August! There are always a *lot* of non-pumpkin Halloween scents. It seems like I counted last year and figured out that fewer than a quarter of the Halloweenies over the years have pumpkin. In 2010, we had 41 scents -- and only three of them had pumpkin. Not even ten percent. I think my favorite recurring Weenie is Dia de los Muertos, although we didn't get it last year. While we usually do get a Pumpkin Patch with five or six different pumpkin blends, this past year, we got the Pomegranate Grove. And I second the fact that Samhain's other notes pretty much kill the pumpkin. I even forget it's in there until I read the notes.

This one is very frustrating to me. It smells lovely (it's a somewhat herbal (I'm not sure where that comes from, but that's just how my nose works sometimes) woody scent with a it of honey that drifts in and out), and it doesn't change very much on me for the first few hours (now that it's six or seven hours later, all I'm smelling is the pine, but it took a while for the other notes to burn off), but there's something about it that makes me unable to handle wearing it. If this was a room scent or a candle, it would be wonderful, but as a skin scent, it comes close to giving me a headache, although it doesn't *quite* bring the pain. Pine is an iffy note for me, so I'm really not surprised it's a no-go. I'm glad I tried it, but I'm also glad I tried it on a day off.

I hate leather, beeswax has been known to make me want to barf, lavender has a tendency to amp and go *way* too sharp, and the less said about myrrh, the better. It should be something I try once and then spend the rest of the day tossing down Tylenol. And yet this is quite possibly my favorite of the Lupes and a strong contender for top ten. It goes all candied violet with a soft background of lavender. I'm a bit nervous that it will age into something unwearable, but I'll never know unless I keep it around, so it stays for now. There's something about it that reminds me of Lilith Victoria, although I can't quite put my finger on what that something is.

I suggest installing OpenOffice (http://download.openoffice.org/), a free office productivity suite. So much this. *Love* Open Office, to the point where I wish I could dump MS Office at work and use Open Office instead (but I work at a bank which, ironically if you know my background, is a subsidiary of the largest bank in the world, so chances are pretty much zero that open source software will ever be allowed there). I always forget that most people aren't even aware of it.

2010 incarnation: Ooh, *so* keeping the half-bottle left over from the decant circle on this one! I have a deep attachment to roses since I was born in Portland (aka the Rose City), but every single rose scent I have ever tried has just left me feeling kind of blah. Until this one. Rose Red is the the sort of deep, velvety rose that my parents had in the front yard under my bedroom window. And there's something in there that reminds me of raspberries, but *fresh* wild raspberries straight off the bush, and this isn't really *fruity*. There's just something there that is making my mind make the connection. In short, this is the rose scent that I hadn't even realized I had given up ever finding. Side note: Last year, I got Hod. My birth flower if I go by the month is carnation. This year, I got Rose Red, my birth flower if I go by my birth city. Maybe next year we will get a gorgeous violet scent to go along with my zodiac sign!

I just got my decant circle shipment in the mail yesterday; haven't had time to take photos yet. I'll take some and get them up soon! All of the yules (obviously not Nutcracker or Christmas Carol) that I received are the same label except, of course, for the perfume name. It's a beautiful design! My bottle of Lick It Vigorously has a red-and-white candy-striped label!

Urgh. I had planned on Mr. Fezziwig's Ball or Changing the Shadows, but instead, I had to break out my imp of Oof. On the up side, at least I *have* that imp. Love how well this stuff works, but I hate what leads me to have to use it.

This is why I have finally come to the realization that I need to stay the hell away from Chaos Theories. The frustration at trying to figure out what's in there just obliterates all enjoyment I might possibly get from the scent.

There's a thread for application tips in the FAQ section, but I use coffee stir straws. One dip usually gets enough for me since I really don't use much oil. I got a box at a restaurant supply store a couple of years ago for two or three bucks, and I'm still only about halfway through the box (I cut them in half because I am uncoordinated, and I always feel like a full-length straw will result in flipping oil *everywhere*). I will also decant a bit so I have an uncontaminated bottle (this is important to me for swap/sale purposes) and a vial I can not worry about getting my own cooties all over -- or even losing, dropping and shattering at the bus stop.

I came here just to say the same! Is there a way to buy Paypal gift cards? I'm pretty sure the lab accepts paypal from anywhere, even that they prefer paypal over credit card payments because it costs them less, or something. You can just send your recipient money via PayPal and pick "gift" for the payment type, and that would be like sending money to, say, your friend for a convention registration she bought for you or your brother for your joint Costco membership (or maybe that's just me...), but the money wouldn't be specifically earmarked in the PayPal system as something to go only to the Lab. It looks like gift certificates are considered a merchant thing with PayPal. BPAL would have to register as a gift certificate-issuing merchant, and we're right back where we started. Then again, if you just got money via PayPal not restricted to things ordered directly from the Lab, you have other buying options, like eBay, decants, Dark Delicacies (if you get a PayPal debit card), etc.

If you can find it, The Traveller (a Bards of Ireland LE back in March, if I recall correctly) is such intense leather that I had to get rid of my partial bottle of it because the microdroplets on the outside of the bottle triggered a headache. Also, go check out Red Rider, Black Rider, and White Rider in the Marchen section of the reviews. Those all center on different leathers.